


All That Matters

by blackfin



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Confessions, First Kiss, Fix-It, Fluff, Kissing, Love Confessions, Lovey-Dovey, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-16
Updated: 2018-12-16
Packaged: 2019-09-20 02:38:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17014002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackfin/pseuds/blackfin
Summary: Keith wakes up in a hospital room and his first thought is that he's either dead or dreaming because Shiro, who he hasn't seen in seven years, is right there beside him. After waking Shiro to get some kind of idea of what's going on, Keith finds himself being pulled into a painfully tight embrace."You've been in a coma for two years." Shiro whispers, "I thought I had lost you for good. There's so much I need to tell you!"





	All That Matters

**Author's Note:**

> not gonna stop  
> gonna do all the fix its  
> gonna write them all  
> it's three fifteen in the morning y'all and i'm just stewing over all they did these boys DIRTY  
> i honestly don't know where this one came from tho. keith...coma was basically the line of thinking then poof! it was written  
> also posted on my tumblr (blackfen) and my twitter (tenebrisfen)

When he first opened his eyes, blinking blearily in the bright light, he was 56% certain that he was dead and was in some kind of weird dimension where an angel would lead him into heaven after walking him through a movie theater where all the screens were playing his best memories and they would talk about his life, about all he done, all his triumphants and regrets before he finally passed through those pearly gates to whatever world lay beyond. The reasoning behind that thinking was who was slumped over by his side, sleeping soundly, his broad shoulders gently rising and falling with the force of his breath, his head cushioned on his crossed arms. 

Shiro. Not exactly as he remembered him when they last saw each other…six? Seven years ago? He’d lost count. Got caught up in his work with the Blades, time slipped by without him noticing, stretching out till it got to a point where even thinking about contacting him, sending him a quick ‘hi, dude, how you been doing?’ made him nauseously anxious. He couldn’t do it, and kept being unable to do it, allowing the time they hadn’t even spoken one another to grow and grow until he was almost desperate to see him but it had been so long, it had been so incredibly long that he wasn’t even sure that they’d even be friends anymore. No, after so long, they’d be strangers, awkwardly exchanging pleasantries before parting with a promise to not let so much time pass before they met up again, only they both knew that wouldn’t be true. 

Yet…Shiro was right there, right beside him, sleeping so peacefully. If he wasn’t dead, then this was a dream and at any moment, he was going to wake up. Shiro was going to vanish, most likely after ‘waking up’, raising that dark gaze to settle on his face then that familiar soft smile would appear for just an instant before Keith jerked awake in his small quarters, staring up at the dark ceiling, grief and agony twisted around his heart, squeezing so tightly that he could feel the straining organ being crushed underneath the massive pressure. He would cover his face, roll over onto his side and wonder just how fucking long it would take before it stopped fucking hurting. 

Seconds ticked by. He didn’t wake up. Shiro didn’t stir. A benevolent angel didn’t appear. Keith blinked, then ripped his gaze away from Shiro to actually look around. Firstly, he didn’t recognize where he was. It was a hospital room, that much was immediately obvious but that was the most distinct thing about it. He lay in a fairly standard hospital bed in what seemed to be a private room. To his right was a wide large window – the curtains were drawn but there was a considerable amount of light pouring in from underneath the thick length of cloth. To his left was a door, that was about it. There wasn’t any equipment around. A quick glance down showed that he was in a hospital gown. He couldn’t see or feel any bandages, nor did he feel hurt. Nothing ached. He was a little hungry, and kind of needed to pee but that was about it. 

Knitting his brows together, he came to a not so startlingly conclusion: he was neither dead nor dreaming. While it was easy to entertain both options with Shiro, inexplicably, being right there, there was too much evidence pointing to it not being either of those things. Everything felt too real, too clear. There was only so long to convince someone could convince themselves that what they were seeing wasn’t real before reality came crashing in. That, however, rose two very important questions. 

Why was he in a hospital? 

And, more importantly, why was Shiro there? 

Well, he figured he could get an answer to both of those questions if he just woke up the man that was inspiring such curiosity. Keith looked back to Shiro, hesitantly reached out with one hand but stopped short just when his fingers were about to brush against Shiro’s shoulder. Fucking…he was right there, right fucking there, and he couldn’t bring himself to do it. That familiar anxiousness, panic reared its ugly head, whispering that nothing was the same, that he and Shiro were nothing more like strangers now. And wouldn’t that just hurt? Wouldn’t that hurt so badly that it might just break him? To have Shiro, someone he loved so deeply, someone he had wanted to spend the rest of his life with, looking at him with a distant gaze and a forced smile, knowing that when he returned home to his husband and was asked how things went with Keith, all that would be said in response was a dismissive ‘oh fine’ – nothing more. That’s all Keith would be to him. A distracted two word statement, then he’d be out of Shiro’s mind, pushed away so that he could handle more important things. 

And he didn’t know if he could fucking handle that. It was better to stay away, better to just not let himself think about it other than in those wee hours of the early morning when he knew he should be sleeping but instead, like an idiot, he was lying in his bed, letting his exhausted mind run wild with fantastic imaginings of finally contacting Shiro, hearing the relief, the warmth in his voice, providing the evidence he needed to show that this distance he perceived didn’t exist, that even after the years they’d been separated, they were still so close. If he was particularly exhausted, his mind would run wild, presenting a beautiful daydream of meeting up with Shiro and it’s the same as always, they talk as freely as they once had. 

Problem was, he couldn’t exactly leave. Well, he could but it’d most definitely wake Shiro in the process so really, he was fucking stuck so…even though he really didn’t want to, there was probably no other option. Might as well just go ahead and get it over with then. 

Sucking in a deep, shaky breath, Keith lightly rested his fingers on Shiro’s shoulder, and pushed gently. The result was instantaneous. Shiro jerked awake, inhaling sharply as he jolted up, blinking rapidly, looking so stupidly adorable that it was almost insulting. Shiro scrubbed at his face for a moment, sighed heavily then raised his head, his gaze meeting Keith’s. There was a split moment of stillness, where they just looked at each other, Shiro’s face completely blank and empty then he was surging forward, grabbing Keith by the shoulders and wrenching him forward into an embrace so tight that it was borderline painful. 

Yelping in surprise, his arms awkwardly stuck out, mouth hanging open in what was probably a pretty comical expression, Keith stared at not much of anything, his thoughts stuttering like a scratched record, creating a cacophony of incoherent noise that made his ears ring. Okay, yeah, despite his earlier thoughts that this couldn’t be a dream or him like being dead, he was most definitely experiencing one or both of those things. Hug…Shiro was hugging him. Which was good, he did like to be hugged by Shiro, loved to be hugged by him, matter of fact but the point of the matter was, he didn’t understand what was going on. 

Finally regaining some semblance of composure, Keith awkwardly placed his hands on Shiro’s broad back, his palms tingling a little when they encountered the heat radiating through his thin t-shirt, and said hesitantly, “Shiro?” 

“You’re awake!” Shiro whispered, burying his face into Keith’s shoulder, tightening his hold even further, which put the embrace into actually painful territory, his voice low and strained, “Keith!” 

“I am.” Keith replied uncertainty, not really getting why that was such a big deal. 

Grabbing hold of his shoulders once more, Shiro leaned back, and Keith was shocked to find he was crying. Fat teardrops slid down his cheeks, dripping off his sharp jaw to plop onto the thin blanket. Large hands, both trembling, one comfortingly warm, the other icy cold, cupped his face, tugging him close as Shiro leaned down to press their foreheads together. Heat flooded into his cheeks. His heart did a weird skip inside his chest then began to race, thudding hard against his ribs, sending echoes of the beats throughout the rest of his body. What…what the fuck was going on?! Letting out a slow, shaky breath, Shiro said, “I’m so glad to hear your voice again. I thought I’d lost you for good.” 

“…huh?”

Leaning back, brushing his thumb over the curve of Keith’s cheek, Shiro sniffled, “Don’t panic, okay?”

“Saying something like that only makes me want to panic.” Keith pointed out flatly. It was getting to the point where so much was happening that he just didn’t understand, and his brain couldn’t handle it, leaving him in a weird, unpleasant sense of calm where he was aware he should probably be freaking out but just…couldn’t. 

Shiro laughed softly, and for just a moment, everything was okay, everything was good because Shiro was laughing, he had made Shiro laugh but things quickly returned to the seriousness. Swallowing audibly, Shiro said, “You’ve been in a coma for two years.” 

“…….huh?” 

“Two years ago, your ship malfunctioned, forcing you to crash land. Pretty much everything that could have gone did, leaving you fatally injured and on the verge of death. The Blades found you, rescued you. They managed to get you to a medic, who did the best they could but your injuries were too severe. A few hours after the crash, you slipped into a coma. They told us that you’d never-” Shiro’s voice cracked. His muscular body shuddered. Heart lurching, Keith reached out to him, curling his fingers into the thin material of his t-shirt. 

Sucking in another deep breath, Shiro brushed away a fresh tear that had fallen, his bottom lip trembling, “They told us you’d never wake up. That even if you managed to pull through, you’d never open your eyes again.”

“Well…looks like they were wrong.” Keith said, not really sure of what else to say. Coma, two years of his life gone, Shiro being here, none of it was really hitting him right at that moment. It didn’t feel real. Last he could remember, he was heading off for some mission, the one he guessed he had crashed during. That had been two years ago? Two years were just gone? Yep, there came back that disconcerting calm, though he got the feeling it wasn’t going to last for long. 

“Yeah, they were.” Shiro offered a trembling smile, leaning forward once more to press his forehead to Keith’s, “I’m so glad, Keith. I missed you so much. I thought I’d never be able to talk to you again.”

“I-“ Keith started then paused, unsure…well, it was alright since Shiro had already said it right? “I missed you too. Sorry…sorry to have worried you.” 

“That’s not something you have to apologize for. It’s not like you could help it.” Shiro said gently, “I’m just so fucking happy to have you back, Keith.” 

Tugging Keith back into a firm, warm embrace, one hand lightly stroking his back, a wet, hot face buried in his hair, Shiro let out a shuddering sigh, sniffled loudly and said, “There’s so much I need to tell you.” 

“Let me guess,” Keith said playfully, amazed at his own ability to keep a unaffected, airy tone, despite what he was saying, “you’ve had a couple of kids, they’ve gone on to do great things, just like their Papa-“ 

“Me and Curtis divorced a year ago.” 

It felt like the majority of his participation in this conversation was just, “…..huh?” 

Sliding thick, calloused fingers through Keith’s hair, gently caressing his scalp, Shiro said, “We were already having problems before your accident. Curtis is a great man. I thought I had found my happiness in him, in the peaceful life that I chose but…somewhere along the way, the allure of that life wore off. I was stuck, my feet glued to the ground, looking up at the sky, wanting to be out there again. Once that realization hit, it brought another: the love I had for Curtis was infatuation. It was something inspired in the moment that I clung tightly to through all the years, even as it faded away. I convinced myself I was happy, that I had made the right choice, that I was in love with Curtis but…I was wrong. Still, we tried. We tried to make it work. We went to marriage counselors, we talked it out. Nothing worked. At some point, we realized that there was no going back to how it was when we first married. After that, we decided divorce was the best option.” 

“Shiro-“ Keith said in disbelief, “I’m sorry-“ 

“There was something else.” Shiro quietly interrupted him, “I think…I think that if you had never had your accident, we would still be together. The Blades got into contact with Lance first. He notified everyone else and we rushed to your side. I got here after you slipped into a coma. Seeing you lying in the hospital bed, covered in bandages, the medic telling us that the likelihood of you waking up again was slim to none, I…” Shiro’s voice warbled. Crushing Keith’s to his chest, he sobbed softly, curling his fingers into Keith’s hair, “I was so scared. I couldn’t bring myself to leave your side. You became the most important thing in my life. That…that was the final straw that broke the camel’s back in regards to my marriage.”

“I’m…sorry?” 

Shiro slowly shook his head, “I…I thought I had realized it too late. Sitting by your side, going from fervently begging you to wake up to just watching over you, never fully accepting that you’d never wake up, certain that one day, you’d come back to me, I had more than enough time to think. Keith,” Shiro chuckled, a sad sound that made his heart ache, “my happiness was always right here, right by my side, there with me through everything and I thought…I might’ve realized it too late.” 

To say his heart stopped beating was an understatement. Everything that was Keith, at that moment, crashed. Keith.exe completely ceased to work for a second there. Blinking hard, mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water, he sputtered, his cheeks burning so hotly that he was scared he might singe Shiro’s shoulder, tried to say something, only to find his tongue and lips had gone completely numb. Even if he had been able to speak, he was pretty sure that all that’d come out was just a slurry of ‘what? What? What? What?’. Even though he had heard Shiro speak with his own ears, he was speaking clearly and coherently, despite the mucusy quality to his voice so there’s no way he’d be able to misunderstand him, especially since his mouth was right there, by his ear, he still couldn’t believe what he was hearing. 

“Is it too late, Keith?” Shiro whispered, “Was I too much of an idiot for not realizing it sooner? Tell me…tell me if it is and I’ll understand.”

“Can you please slow down?” Keith asked, his voice oddly calm despite the utter chaos happening in his head, “I just woke up.” 

“Sorry.” Shiro laughed sheepishly, slowly slipping away as though he didn’t want to let go of Keith, “I was just so relieved that I started speaking without thinking. Sorry for overwhelming you.” 

Keith stared up into his teary, snotty face, distantly wondering in the part of his brain that wasn’t actively freaking out how he could still look so handsome when he was an absolute wreck, then slowly asked, his lips forming the words, the sounds before his mind had time to think about them, “Are you saying that you love me, Shiro?” 

“Yeah.” Shiro said without hesitation, nodding jerkily, “Don’t get me wrong. I’ve always loved you. It was only after you had your accident that I realized how much.”

“What do you want, Shiro?” Keith asked softly after a prolonged moment of silence. 

“A second chance.” Shiro breathed, clenching his eyes tightly shut, one hand gripping tightly onto the thin blanket, “I know you must be angry. All the signs that were right in front of my face, everything you’ve done, and I threw it all away on a momentary happiness. I know I have no right to ask but-“ 

Keith was already moving by the time Shiro finished his first sentence. The rational part of his brain didn’t want to believe this was really happening, that it was all too good to be true but…it was so cliché that he nearly made himself gag just thinking it but…the heart knew. The heart always knew. This was his Shiro, baring his soul, telling Keith something that he must have spent those two years agonizing over. This was his Shiro…telling him something that he had been longing to hear for seven years. How they got to this point didn’t matter. How long it took didn’t matter. All that mattered was that right here, right now, was his Shiro. 

Reaching up, only half hearing what Shiro was saying, having already heard everything he needed to, Keith cupped that gross face, a gentle smile tugging at the corners of his mouth and pushed himself up just as Shiro was opening his eyes, pressing a soft kiss to his lips. Shiro inhaled sharply, his eyes momentarily widening before fluttering shut. Muscular arms encircled him once more, pulling him close as Shiro deepened the kiss, devouring his mouth with an almost frightening intensity. Two years…he had been waiting two years for this moment…had he spent nights dreaming about an exact scenario like this? Had he been plagued with nightmares where Keith furiously rejected him? Well, he supposed those were question he could have answered later. For now, all he wanted to focus on was the bliss of Shiro’s lips, the warm bloom of happiness swelling inside his chest and the sweet relief flowing through his veins. 

Pulling away with a hard gasp, Shiro peppered kisses all over his face, covering every inch of his overheated skin before pulling him into another crushing embrace. Holding tightly onto the back of his shirt, Keith placed a kiss on his temple, and whispered, “In case it isn’t obvious, I love you too.”

“I know.” Shiro laughed ruefully, “I realized, with some help from everyone, how obvious it had been. Right in front of my face and yet, I just couldn’t see it.” 

“You see it now,” Keith murmured reassuringly, playing with the short hair at the base of Shiro’s neck, “that’s all that matters.” 

“I thought you’d be angry.” 

“No…it might have been right in front of your face but I never said anything. How can I blame you when I never told you how I felt?” 

Shiro was silent for a few moments, during which Keith just basked in his warmth, his scent, nearly on the verge of tears at how good it felt to be wrapped up his arms again, at just how good he felt generally – like yeah, he might’ve just woken up from a coma and lost two years of his life but Shiro! Shiro was here! He had gotten to kiss him! He was going to be able to kiss him more in the future! This was a pretty damn good indicator that he was going to be Shiro’s boyfriend! His husband! That…that right fucking there was worth the two years. If he was involved in a game, and was given the option: you can lose two years of your life and have the person you love more than anything confess that they love you just as much and you can be with them or not have that, what would you do? Uh, duh! He’d go with the first option! 

“C-can you say it again?” Shiro asked, dropping his head into Keith’s shoulder. 

“What? I love you?” 

“Again.” Shiro mumbled, his voice muffled since he seemed to be trying to actually meld into him. 

“I love you.” Keith said again, the smile returning to his face. Kissing the side of Shiro’s head, he said, “I love you. I really love you. I love you so much, Shiro.” 

“I love you too.” Shiro’s face was burning hot against his skin. 

“Yeah, I know.” Keith chuckled, “Thank you for telling me.”

“Keith?” 

“Yeah?” 

“Don’t leave me ever again.” Shiro’s embrace tightened, squeezing him even more firmly to his muscular chest, “I…I can’t lose you.” 

Keith’s eyes widened slightly then fluttered close. Relaxing completely into Shiro’s hold, brushing his fingers through his short hair, Keith nodded, kissed a soft patch of skin between his shoulder and neck, and whispered, “Never. I’ll be by your side, always.” 

They stayed like that, wrapped up in each other’s embrace, for what felt like a very long time then the door to his room slid open, revealing a nurse who stopped mid-step, mouth falling open, at the sight of him awake. They gawked for just a moment before turning and racing down the hallway, calling for some doctor. After that, pandemonium ensued. Doctors, nurses flooded into the room, pulling Shiro away so they could give him the full checkup. During the chaos, Shiro sent out the call to everyone, letting everyone know that, against all odds, he had woken up. Sometime during that period, someone told him the full extent of his injuries and just how unbelievable it was that he’d awoken but he just kind of tuned it out. Not important – he was awake, recovered now so let bygones be bygones. 

The doctors and nurses left, giving him and Shiro just a few minutes alone before his team, his friends burst into the room, carting massive boutiques of flowers, plates of cookies (freshly made) and teary, snotty faces. He was hugged more in the span of thirty seconds than he had been in the past seven years. He was also far happier than he had been in the past seven years. Propped up in the hospital bed, Shiro pressed to his side, their fingers intertwined, listening to Mom, Pidge, Hunk, Lance and Coran talk about everything that had happened, their voices overlapping, creating a cacophony that Keith could hardly understand, he finally got it. This…right here…this was where he belonged. With his friends…with Shiro. Glancing up at him, his heart becoming a golden whirl of glee and love when he met his gaze and offered a wide, warm, adoring grin, Keith rested his cheek on that broad shoulder, motioned for Pidge, who’d been telling him something about the new technology she and Matt were expanding on but paused when Keith looked away, to continue. 

Right here. He didn’t want to be anywhere else. It had just taken him seven years and falling into a fucking coma to realize that. Well, better than having never, he supposed. Got there some way, and frankly, that was all that mattered.


End file.
